Los Abrazos Rotos is the latest work by castilian-manchego writer/director Pedro Almodóvar. Starring are usual collaborator and Academy award-winning actress Penélope Cruz (as Lena), Lluís Homar (Mateo Blanco/Harry Caine), Blanca Portillo (Judit García) and Lola Dueñas (Lip reader).
Mateo Blanco is a film director who went blind and becomes his alter-ego Harry Caine to forgive his past. In his final film "Chicas y Maletas" he tried to do a comedy and met the love of his life, Lena. Lena has a relationship with an old rich man who is the producer of the film. He, as an act of jealousy, uses his son to film every step of the filming and a lip reader that can translate every word said during the set. The story goes back and forth from Madrid 1994 to Madrid 2008, where Mateo is telling the story to Diego, one of his employees.
The film, the 17th feature for the Spaniard director, is very well edited, directed and told. The scenes are joined perfectly in true Almodóvar style, the use of different camera shots to see the storytelling as unconventional as possible and the colors are mind-blowing. The usual themes are there: love, betrayal, homosexuality, lies, secrets, etc. You passed from laughing out loud with his witty humor to feel pity because of the way things finally turned out. He point outs references to the Spanish political arena, his previous films and even a fake vampire movie named "Dona Sangre".
One downgrade is that lacks the sick twists his previous films had. The clock stops at more than two hours but is at-large an entertaining film, as everything "El Deseo" does. Is not a masterpiece like "All about my mother" but worth checking out.
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